Lecturer David Lee Wants All Public San Francisco Meetings Streamed Live

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE -- David Lee, a political science instructor at San Francisco State University, is leading the effort that would require all city public meetings to be streamed live online, allow people to offer public comment remotely and have their testimony appear on monitors at the meeting, and create a “time certain” agenda designation. That means any time 50 members of the public petition for a specific time for their agenda item to be discussed, it will — wait for it — be discussed at the appointed time. “We’ve all been there, when you’re there for an agenda item you care about and it gets moved and moved and moved,” Lee said. “Something that was agendized at 2:30 ends up at midnight. We want to create some certainty in people’s lives.” Lee said the current system prevents people with regular jobs, parents, caregivers, students and small-business owners from participating in the government process.